Called to praise
23rd April 2006 Pete Elwin
Called to praise – Eph 1 v 1-8
God's grace in it's cosmic context.
Last Sunday Trevor talked about 'Christus Victor' and the bigger picture, in which the events of Easter are seen as a bit like D Day, God coming into his creation in such a way that Satan didn't quite spot what was going on.
Ephesians continues the theme that what we see is not all there is, there is more than what we see. What we perceive with our 5 senses is not the totality of reality.
Look at Eph 1 v 1-8 in The Message. Talks of a long range plan in which everything in heaven and planet Earth would be brought together.
Ephesians is not a typical Paul letter in that he's not reprimanding or warning against heresy. Instead he wants us to understand the wider context of our salvation.
Verse 3 God has blessed us. When we ask for blessing we usually mean in the here and now, but this verse talks of being blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing.
What does verse 3 mean: We have access to the waterfall of God's grace, limitless source of blessings, the certainty of what God has done for us and who he says we are. We have access to a Source which is permanent and reliable. Also it's about the big picture, the heavenly realms, by blessing us God is changing the universe.
How central are we to God's purpose? We often feel peripheral, there are so many other people and God is so big. V 4-6 our destiny and purpose it to be in relationship with him.
When did God decide this, that each one of us is central to his plan. When we're born? When we accept him into our hearts? No, he decided it before he invented time, before creation had been created. Man is not an afterthought to God's creation plan, we were invented first, with the purpose of knowing him.
Verses 7-8 how much grace does God bestow. Lavished, not carefully measured out. Niagara Falls quantities, no limit. Our brains are limited and we find it difficult to think of things which are big, so we try to make things small in order to understand. Think of the biggest thing you can, and stretch it in your mind, and God's grace is bigger than that.
With all wisdom and understanding: God understands what he's doing when he imparts his grace. He knew what he was doing when he chose us to be in relationship with him. No mistake.
We are part of the bigger picture that God always had in mind, not making it up as he goes along. God responds to what we do, but his intentions for creation and for us as his people was decided before time and remains unchanged.
Easter reminds us of how important this is to God, the lengths he will go to to restore our rightful place as his children, how important we are in his plan. What he's prepared to do to put things back on track.
The empty tomb reminds us that we are living in Christ's victory, we are indeed the people of the empty tomb not people of the cross. The gates of ell could not contain him.
Verse 2 grace and peace to you - we have God's grace and endless blessings poured out on us therefore we are at peace with God and each other.
Ephesians describes the consequences of that victory, changes which take place in us but also the cosmic changes going on.
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